


The Sweet Taste of Love: Finding Family

by thexfictionxstallion



Series: The Sweet Taste of Love [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst and Humor, Azula & Zuko (Avatar) Have a Good Relationship, Azula (Avatar) Is Mentally Ill, Azula (Avatar) Needs a Hug, BUT SHE GETS HELP THANK AGNI!!, Badass Suki (Avatar), Bisexual Suki (Avatar), Brotp, Fluff, Gen, Happy Azula (Avatar), Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Lesbian Azula (Avatar), Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Suki & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Ursa (Avatar) is a Good Parent, Zuko (Avatar) Needs Therapy, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Zuko doesn't have his scar, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, but she’s made some mistakes, not by blood but still, ozai never had the chance to hurt my poor baby >:), slight mention of homophobia, suki azula and zuko are siblings, suki is good at keeping serects
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26668393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thexfictionxstallion/pseuds/thexfictionxstallion
Summary: ˚*   ੈ✩‧₊₊˚ˑ༄ؘ𝐀𝐳𝐮𝐥𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝.❝𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐘. 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆?❞𝐙𝐮𝐤𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲.❝𝐈… 𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍...❞⋆.ೃ࿔*:･. ˚◞♡   ⃗ 🎐*ೃ༄Following Firelady Ursa’s disappearance, Zuko realizes the wrongdoings of his nation and father and convinces Azula to run away with him.__________________________
Relationships: Azula & Iroh (Avatar), Azula & Suki (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Azula (Avatar) & Original Character(s), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Suki & Zuko (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) & Original Character(s)
Series: The Sweet Taste of Love [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1996486
Comments: 11
Kudos: 103





	1. Will Come After We Leave

**Author's Note:**

> Azula is only ten in this chapter and has yet to have the image of her mother and the abuse from her father fully settle in her mind, so she is slightly more sympathetic and kinder. Mind you, she is still Azula, so she will still say things that are out of line.
> 
> Also this is a year before Zuko’s cannon banishment.

* * *

  
Azula had thought Zuko was joking.   
  


I mean, the boy himself was a joke. Everything he did and said-- whether it was firebending drills or his attendance at war meetings-- was a joke. He never took anything seriously, so why should she take him seriously now?

You see, it was the middle of the night and the princess was rightfully asleep… before her idiot older brother awoke her. She didn’t even want to know how he managed to sneak past the guards that protected the doors to her chambers nor did she want to know why his eyes were puffy and red. In all honesty, she would’ve ignored his presence all together and go directly back to bed if it weren’t for the next three words that came out of his mouth.

“I’m running away.”

The ten year old forgot that she was expected to be asleep as she yelled at her brother, “What?!” She quickly realized her mistake and lowered her voice into a hissing whisper. “What in the name of Agni are you talking about, Zuzu?!”

Zuko played nervously with the tips of his fingernails as he spoke. “I said I’m _running_ _away_ , leaving the palace, maybe leaving the Fire Nation...” his voice went into a mutter as he looked up at his younger sister, “I don’t want to be here anymore.”

A candle that sat on the bedside table lit up the room enough so that the young girl’s deadpan expression was as apparent as the boy’s sad aura. “The prince of the Fire Nation,” Azula said slowly, dragging out her words enough to make Zuko regret his decision to inform his sister of his plans, “has ownership to everything in the Nation— anything he wants at his disposal. Running away is something a peasant would do and even though you love to act like it, you are anything but a peasant.” 

Zuko decided to sit on the bed, maybe being physically closer to each other would make her more open to his thoughts? It was stupid, but he didn’t know else he would be able to get her empathy.   
  


His puffy golden eyes looked at his sister’s as he tried to find the right words to say. Being the prince, he had learned to silence himself a whole lot. Speech and expression wasn’t something that came easy for him, even at the young age of twelve.

But he really wanted for his sister to understand him. _He_ _needed_ _her to understand._ She was always smarter than him and understanding should come easier for her, right?

He changed his positioning on the bed so that he was sitting across from her, crisscrossed apple-sauced. “Azula… haven’t you ever thought… t-that… this isn’t normal?”

Azula raised an eyebrow, curiosity now taking over. “What isn’t normal?”

“Like, um… the way our family is… the way this country is…”

Azula rolled her eyes. “Be more specific, brother.”

“I mean, _Dad_ … He doesn’t act like a dad.”

“Our father doesn’t act like a dad?” a sarcastic tone was very apparent in Azula’s voice as she said this but apparently Zuko wasn't able to pick up on that as he exclaimed, “Yes! I mean, he’s really controlling and demanding all the time. In school, I’ve seen how the other dad’s act and it’s nothing like our dad.”

“Well, maybe that’s because the other dads are weak and don’t know how to raise their children properly. That’s not Dad’s fault.”

Zuko frowned. “You’re not understanding.”

A glare quickly found its way on the nine year old’s face. “Then make me understand, Zuko! Why do you want to leave Dad?! Why do you want to leave our people?!” 

She could practically taste the words, _‘I already lost Mom! Why do you want to leave me too?!’_ on the tip of her tongue. But she didn’t let it slip out. Even at the young age of ten, the girl has grown to know not to share the things that break you the most. If something upsets you, you must silence yourself before someone else uses it to silence you. 

She wasn’t like Zuko, she hardly had a temper. While the twelve year old went off at every servant who gossiped about their missing mother, the ten year old walked away. Everyone knew of Prince Zuko’s heartbreak over the loss of their mom, but nobody ever stopped to question Princess Azula’s thoughts. 

If they did, she would never tell them the truth. She would never tell them that she had a place in her heart for the woman who saw her as a monster.

The siblings sat in silence for a while, neither of them really knowing what to say.

“Do you remember when we would feed the turtleducks?”

Azula narrowed her eyes at the question. “I never fed turtleducks with you,” she spat, “That was always you and mom...”

“No,” Zuko said plainly. “You used to be there with us... You would always want to take your leftovers and try to feed it to them and would get sad when they didn’t accept your food. Mom always had to calm you down, reminding you that turtleducks don’t like traditional Fire Nation food, that it was too spicy for them…” an old lump reformed in Zuko’s throat. “She would put your hand in hers and help you separate pieces of bread to feed them.”

Azula frowned. “When was this?”

“Before you showed signs of fire bending… before Dad took you away.”

The princess scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous, Zuzu. Dad never took me away, I’m still here.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Zuko said with a shake of his head. “We still live together but he’s forced us to seperate. We’re not as close as we used to be. You practically hate me now, just because Dad said that I deserved to be hated.”

“Well, you do deserve to be hated, Zuzu!” Azula exclaimed, not even realizing how much she hurt her brother with that one sentence. “You’re the Fire Prince and yet still manage to be one of the weakest benders in the nation. You’re a disgrace! How do you live with yourself knowing that all our ancestors look down at you with shame in their eyes?”

Zuko felt tears wanting to introduce themselves as his sister poured salt into a long opened wound. He didn’t want to cry in front of her, not now, not anymore. He had already spent all of last week crying for his mother and a huge portion of tonight crying while trying to make his decision. Right now he was in a state of mind where he didn’t even know if he had any tears left to cry. 

He looked back at Azula and shook his head. He was heartbroken. His sister was one of the smartest people he knew, why couldn’t she understand him? Why couldn’t she look at things through his point of view? He was sure she wasn’t heartless, mother told him so. 

_Azula only acts like this because she doesn’t know how else to act. She doesn’t know that she’s hurting anyone. Remain kind and maybe she’ll start to understand what kindness is._

Well he’s been kind for over the past ten years and his younger sister still had yet to say “ thank you.” Zuko was just so tired. 

Tired of his dad hurting him. 

Tired of his sister hurting him.

Tired of everyone in the nation calling him weak while they turn their backs at the violence he had to face everyday.

Tired of the gossip shared between the kids in school and the servants.

Tired of people acting like all of this was normal.

If they weren’t _Prince_ Zuko and _Princess_ Azula would anyone even care about their strength?

He hung his head low. “We used to play in the garden and laugh,” he whispered, getting up from the bed, “… we used to act like siblings.”

Zuko almost reached the door when his sister grabbed his arm.

“Wait, Zuko,” Azula said. The boy's own name rang in his ears. The last time Azula called him by his real name was when he tried to correct her when she was three and even then, she went right back to referring to him by his nickname. The sudden change caused Zuko to allow Azula to keep hold of his arm.

“I’m… conflicted,” Azula struggled to find the right words. What she wanted to do was hug her brother and yell at him to not leave but she couldn’t. It was just how she was raised. “I want to understand why. Why are you leaving?”   
  


Zuko looked at his feet, thinking of the exact words to say. “I… I want to feel loved again...”

Azula still held onto her brother’s arm as she questioned, “What do you mean by that?”

“I’m not loved here. Dad doesn’t love me. Everyone in the palace treats me like a pest. The entire nation acts like I was never supposed to be born. Mom was the only one who actually loved me and now she’s gone. What exactly is the point of staying in a place where I'm not welcomed.

“I don’t blame you for not understanding. If you were to ever walk past someone, they would bow without a second thought. For me, they hesitate and question if I’m worthy enough for their respect. Do you notice when the servants get close to striking me? Do you notice when the officials look down at me as if they’re about to attack? 

I’m so tired, Azula. I want to feel wanted.”

Azula let go of her brother’s arm. What in the name of Agni was he talking about? Of course people looked down at him! He was weak! That was just how it works! If he wants their respect, their _love,_ he would just need to become stronger. Respect is something you force someone to give you, not something you politely ask for.

Azula scoffed. “So you're just going to leave, right? You think this nation is messed up so you’re going to leave me here?”

“Actually,” Zuko brightened up. “I was hoping for you to come with me.”

Azula backed up with a disgusted expression. Why would she ever join his brother in his treachery? To defy their father would be a complete act of disrespect. The consequences for her actions would be painful-- avoidable pain.

Zuko responded before Azula could. “If you really want to, you can come with me, and if you end up wanting to go back you can. I don’t want to go alone or leave you here but it’s your choice. I’m not going to force you to do anything.”

Azula’s head spun, thinking of all the ways this situation could end. It took a couple moments but she eventually rolled her eyes. “Your death would bring great shame to the family name. I might as well go to make sure you survive the first week.” 

Zuko’s eyes lit up. The reply wasn’t the best but it was something. And it wasn’t a _no._

“Then you should get packed, Lala.”

This, gals, lads, and non-conforming pals, is how the fire siblings journy began. In the end after years of abuse, they would find the _sweet_ _taste_ _of_ _love_.

**_______________________**

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. The Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escaping the palace? Easy. Working together? Not so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yee-haw, mothefuckers, guess who got excited and rushed this 🤠

**_________________________**

  
  


~~Escaping~~ Leaving Caldera Palace wasn’t as hard as Azula expected. 

_Apparently_ , Zuko had been planning this escape for a week and took note on the fact that the guards never actually guarded their rooms. They were all too focused on protecting the Firelord to think about the fact that _maybe_ someone would want his children dead as well.

This meant that the only obstacle they had left-- were the guards that patrolled the front gates.

**_________________________**

“We’re going to need a distraction.”

The two siblings hid behind a large pillar, ducking their heads everytime they heard a gaurd pass by. All the guards situated at the palace were very acquainted with the royal family-- meaning if any of them were to see as much as their figure, the fire siblings would immediately be captured and reported to their father, something that they both wanted to avoid.

“Well, obviously,” Azula responded to her brother with an eye roll. She did not like how things were going, _not at all._

Usually she would be the one to take the lead, but now it seemed as though she didn’t know _anything_.   
  


For some reason, Zuko had this special ability that she didn’t know about. He was able to blend into the shadows exceptionally well and his footsteps were almost silent against the tile floor. Meanwhile, Azula was surprised she hadn’t woken the rest of the palace with her loud and wobbly steps.

How Zuko came to know how to sneak around so well, she couldn't tell you. The boy was the prince-- if he needed to get somewhere, there was always a peasant servant around the corner, prepared to make sure his royal feat never touched the ground. There should never be a time in which a prince feels the need to sneak around like a village idiot.

“Most of the guards here are non-benders,” Zuko said with a smile. “it would be a shame if a fire was started.”

Azula smirked, taking the hint. The siblings moved so that their heads stuck out on either side of the pillar.   
  


_So we’re keeping secrets now, right brother?_

Zuko still held onto his smile as he readied his stance. He had always been a weak bender, but even he could start a measly fire. “On three?”

“I don’t waste my time on countdowns,” Azula shot her arms out, blue flames zooming out of her finger tips, landing themselves on two trees that stood to the side of the gates.

It didn’t take long for the guards to rush to attend the tree being drowned in fire. While the chaos and confusion progressed between the guards, the siblings ran to the gates. After throwing their bags over the walls, Zuko quickly grabbed onto the wall, pushing himself up. Once he reached the top of the gate, he held out his hand to his sister, who accepted. 

They slid off the wall, grabbed their bags, ran deep into town and ducked behind a nearby building.

Azula was still catching her breath when she faced her brother. His golden orbs were widened as he addressed her. “Where did you learn to do that?”

“Why are you so shocked to learn that I’m a better firebender than you?” The young girl said with a smirk, her pride shone brightly-- very apparent in the statement.

“B-but, a weider of blue fire hasn’t been seen for-”

Azula cut him off. “Four hundred sixty-two years? Well, you’re seeing one now. Aren’t you proud?”  
  


Zuko shook his head in disbelief but his mind quickly calmed. “Anyways, we need to get out of here. Even though we’re out of the palance, we’ll still need to get out of the capital city.”

As if on cue, Azula yawned. “Not everyone can go sleepless nights, Zuzu.”

Zuko frowned. He had forgotten that this younger sister wasn’t used to sneaking around like this. “Right…” he muttered, “We need to find a place to rest.”

Azula turned away from her brother. Looking over the walls of the building she got an idea.

“What about that abandoned ostrich-horse stall?”

Zuko moved to see what she was talking about. His gold orbs eventually found the ostrich-horse stall that didn’t seem to have any sort of activity inside. _Many ostrich-horses tend to not want to sleep at night, though they are binaural, since they’re flight-or-fight incidents are very well developed. A lot of communion tends to come from stalls during the night due to an ostrich-bird getting startled by someone passing by._

“Let’s make sure nothing’s in there first,” Zuko said, walking to the place in question.

Azula frowned but followed her older brother nonetheless.

**_________________**

Azula climbed on top of her brother’s shoulders to look into the windows. Everything was dark but the figures of the stalls and the hay were apparent enough for the ten year old to make out.

“Well,” Zuko asked, getting impatient. “What do you see?”

“It’s completely abandoned,” she said. “Just some hay.”

“We can use it as bedding,” Zuko muttered before hissing at his sister, “You can get off me now, Azula.”

“Weren’t you the one who told me to get on you in the first place?” She hissed back. 

“You’re done looking through the window. You need to get off!” The boy stepped away from the window, causing Azula to wobble.

“Stop it, Zuko!” the girl yelled.

_Too late._

The siblings tumbled down. Zuko’s body cushioned the young princess’ from the fall-- but the cushion wouldn’t last long.

The prince pushed the princess off his torso with a huff. Both angered, they quickly got up to yell at each other.

“You’re such an idiot!”

“I told you to get off!”  
  
“That doesn’t mean that you should make me fall! Are you completely stupid?!”

Zuko huffed. “Well, you should've gotten off when I told you to get off,” he muttered.

Azula growled at her brother, completely frustrated. “I swear to Agni, one of these days, you're going to get me so mad, I-I’ll burn you!”

She stomped off before he could reply. Zuko, also frustrated, yelled at the long gone girl. “I COULD SAY THE SAME FOR YOU!”

**_________________**

That occurred ten minutes ago. 

Azula and Zuko still had yet to face each other after their argument. They were both extremely petty, never wanting to admit their wrongs to each other. 

Being raised more by his mother than father, Zuko was more open to reconsider his actions. Azula was the exact inverse. Zuko knew that, of course he knew that, he just thought… maybe since Azula decided to join him, she would change? It was a stupid thought-- _really_ stupid for that mattter. But the boy was only twelve, let him dream.

The boy continued to sit outside the stall. He was tired but outdoors, out in the open, was no place to rest. He needed sleep but he would only sleep inside, where Azula was. Not a centimeter of his body wanted to get in contact with her. 

His mother thought him better than to hate his younger sister. Nah, he didn’t hate her, he was just really annoyed. _An awkward twelve year old running away from home with his (unknowingly) cruel younger sister was a recipe for disaster, but he put up with it like he put up with everything else._

“I can’t believe she thinks I let her fall on purpose!” he huffed. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“Well, I guess I should apologize for that.” 

**_______________________**   
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, kings, queens, and sovereigns, i don’t know where they’re going to end up. it’s either Kyoshi Island or Ba Sing Se. though I want them to end up on K.I, I don’t know how they’re going to land themselves there 🧐...?
> 
> Also, I’m not used to how paragraphs work here on AO3, is the spacing okay? Do I need to move them closer or...?


End file.
